Data Lounge - Moderation and Rules

Moderation and Rules

The DataLounge forum is largely self-moderated via debates amongst posters, and since most posts are anonymous viciousness does occur, though face slapping is discouraged. Many DataLounge posters become violently pedantic where matters of improper grammar, punctuation and spelling are concerned. Some threads are locked by the Webmaster, however, and a few are deleted outright, particularly those which criticize the site's management. For most of its history DataLounge had a system of "redtagging" trolls. When posters were tagged, each of their previous and subsequent posts are tagged with a number in red text so that they become publicly identified. This prevented the majority of trolls from stirring flamewars by, for instance, "talking to themselves" (e.g., posting anonymously on their own threads while pretending to be different individuals). Although the V6 version of DataLounge has a "ff" button, short for "Flames & Freaks," to report trolls to the Webmaster, and in past incarnations could be used to create a redtag for a particular post even in the Webmaster's absence, as of yet no redtags have appeared on V6. It is not known whether redtags are now gone for good.